Compartment door latch



Sept. 12, 1939. E, N JACOB" 7 2,172,586

' COMPARTMENT DOOR LATCH Filed Dec. 9, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 EdwardEJ270017! I Sept. 12, 1 939. 1 E. N. JACOB! 2,172,586

COMPARTMENT DOOR LATCH Filed Dec. 9, 1937 2 Sheets$heet 2 5 W naw Eawrd$750M ,z

Briggs, dated December 5,

Patented Sept. 12, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Briggs & StrattonCorporation,

Milwaukee,

Wis., a corporation of Delaware Application December 9, 1937, Serial No.178,954

,15 Claims. This invention relates to door latches and refersparticularly to latches for use on glove compartment doors inautomobiles.

Modern automobiles are now general equipped with compartments locatedbehind the instrument panel and provided with doors hinged at the bottomand held closed by a suitable latch mechanism.

Patent No. 1,937,942, issued to Stephen F. 1933, illustrates a latchconstruction for compartment doors like that for which the presentinvention is designed.

As in the aforesaid patent, the present invention employs a springpressed latch bolt which snaps into its operative position upon closureof the door and as long as the door remains unlocked, can be overcome bya smart pull on the knob as distinguished from constructions in whichactuation of a releasing mechanism is necessary preparatory to openingof the door.

With constructions of this type, the door is locked by turning a lockingcylinder into a position at which movement of the latch bolt necessaryto permit opening of the door is restrained; and it is an object of thisinvention to provide a construction of the character described which isso designed that this result is eiiected without imposing objectionablestress upon the cylinder.

More specifically it is an object of this invention to provide a latchconstruction of the character described wherein the latch bolt issecured in its operative position by interposing a projection on thelock cylinder between a part of the latch bolt and the wall of the borein which the cylinder turns.

Another object of this invention is to provide simplified means forassembling the latch mechanism with the door.

Another object of this invention is to. provide a simple constructionfor recessing the door knob below the outer plane of the door.

It is also an object of this invention to provide the lock casing orbody with projections opposite its tumbler grooves to serve asreinforcements at these portions of the casing and to also act as keysto prevent rotation of the casing in the door knob in which it ismounted.

Another object of this invention is to provide a construction of thecharacter described which is so designed that it can be readily adaptedto a non-locking latch by merely substituting two stamped plugs for thelock cylinder, these plugs being so retained in position as to beremovable to permit replacement thereof by a lock cylinder.

With the above and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription proceeds, this invention resides in the novel construction,combination and arrangement of parts substantially as hereinafterdescribed and more particularly defined by the appended claims, it beingunderstood that such changes in the precise embodiment of the hereindisclosed invention may be made as come within the scope of the claims.

The accompanying drawings illustrate one complete example of thephysical embodiment of the invention constructed according to the bestmode so far devised for the practical application of the principlesthereof, and in which:

Figure 1 is a vertical cross sectional view through a portion of a glovecompartment door and a part of the compartment, showing the applicationof this invention thereto;

Figure 2 is a horizontal sectional View through the structure shown inFigure l, with parts broken away and in section;

Figure 3 is an inner end view of the latch mechanism per se removed fromthe door;

Figure .4 is a top view of the door knob;

Figure 5 is a side View of the knob;

Figure 6 is a perspective view of the lock casing or body showingparticularly the construction of its inner end;

Figure 7 is a cylinder;

Figure 8 is a perspective view of the retaining cap which is secured tothe inner end of the casing or body to hold the mechanism assembled withthe door;

7 Figure 9 is a like latch bolt;

Figure 10 is a cross sectional view taken on the line Ill-Iii of Figure1; and

Figure 11 is a longitudinal sectional view through the latch structureshowing the manner in which it may be transformed into a nonlockinglatch.

Referring now particularly to the accompanying drawings in which likenumerals indicate like parts throughout the several views, the numeral 5designates generally a glove compartment provided with a hinged door 6.The specific construction of the compartment and the manner in which thedoor is hingedly mounted forms no part of this invention, and therefore,has not been shown. Suffice it to say that the door is generally hingedat its bottom edge and that the compartment is in back of the instrumentpanel of the automobile with its entrance opening through the panel,

At its upper free end portion, the door 6 has a horizontally disposedround bottomed recess 1 into which a similarly formed finishing shell 8is nested. A hole 9 through the bottom of the recess and the finishingshell provides for the mounting of a latch mechanism, indicatedgenerally by the numeral I 0.

This latch mechanism includes a knob ll disposed in the door recess andpreferably of a size to lie wholly within the recess and not projectbeyond the face of the door. This knob may be perspective view of thelock perspective view of the hookmade by plastic molding and has a shankportion I2 shaped at its inner end to fit the curvature of the shell 8and provided at its outer end with a substantially rectangular shapedhead l3 which provides a grip by which the knob may be grasped to applyan opening pull on the door.

The shank 12 of the knob has a bore l4 pro-'- vided with a counterbore[5 at its outer end to receive a lock casing or body I6. This casing orlook body is of a diameter to just fit the hole 9 and has a flange ll onits front end which is received in the counterbore 15. A finishing shellIt? in the form of a ring is clinched over the flange I1 and to securethe casing or body against rotation in the knob, two diametricallyopposite projections 19 extend outwardly from the cylindrical surface ofthe casing to be received in longitudinal recesses 20 in the knob.

These projections 19 are in line with tumbler receiving grooves 2!opening to the bore of the casing or body so as to strengthen the casingat these points without unduly increasing the overall dimensions of theunit.

As best shown in Figure 6, the inner end of the lock casing or body ishas a substantially diametrically extending slot 23 communicating withthe inner end of its bore 24. This slot 23 is open at its top and at theinner end of the casing, but is closed at the bottom by a wall 25 whichprojects from the end of the casing. The opposite side walls of the slothave bearing sockets 26 formed therein which are open at their forwardends and communicate with passageways 21 also cut into the side walls ofthe slot.

These bearing sockets pivotally receive trunnions 28 projecting fromopposite sides of a hook-like latch bolt 29 to pivotally mount the latchbolt from the inner end of the casing To assemble the latch bolt withthe casing, it is only necessary to pass the trunnions along thepassageways 21 a sufficient distance to permit their entrance into thebearing sockets.

The undersurface of the latch bolt has a tit 30 projecting therefrom toengage one end of a compression spring 3| which is confined between thebottom of the latch bolt and a spring seat provided by the wall 25. Thespring seat is inclined, as best shown in Figure 1, so that the springstands at an angle tending to push the trunnions of the bolt into thebottom of the bearing sockets and also tending to turn the boltclockwise about its pivotal mounting to yiel-dingly maintain the same inan operable position engageable with a striker plate 33 suitably securedto the upper wall of the compartment, or any other fixed structure.

To guard against displacement of the lower end of the spring, the wall25 has as overhanging ledge 34 directed inwardly to overlie the endmostcoil of the spring. The lock body or casing being die-cast, theformation of the overhanging ledge 34 is conveniently formed by pullinga core radially out from the surface of the casing which results in ahole 35. The core required to form the ledge may be pulled by the samebar used to pull the core which forms a hole 36 through the wall of thecasing necessary for the insertion of a cylinder releasing tool to freethe lock cylinder 3! for withdrawal from its casing.

The spring propelled motion of the latch bolt is limited by theengagement of a shoulder 38 on the bolt with the inner end of thecasing, as clearly shown in Figure 1, and as will be readily apparent,the inclined upper edge portion 39 of the bolt serves to cam the samepast the striker plate during closure of the door. To open the door, itis only necessary to exert a pull on the knob as the relationship of thepivotal axis of the bolt to the striker plate is such that the force ofthe spring can be overcome with a pull of reasonable force.

The invention contemplates either a locking latch mechanism employingthe lock cylinder 31 held in place by a detent in the form of a springclip 36 engaged in a groove 3'! in the cylinder and which enters anannular groove 40 formed in the wall of the casing bore in line with thehole 36, or a non-locking latch structure in which the cylinder isreplaced by two plugs 4| and 42 (see Figure In each instance, however,means must be provided to prevent detachment of the bolt trunnions fromthe open bearing sockets, especially during closure of the door when theengagement of the bolt with the striker plate tends to move the boltforwardly. For this purpose, the bolt has a forwardly extendingprojection 43, the outer end of which is preferably concentric to theaxis of its trunnions and which engages either the inner end of thecylinder 31 or the plug 4|.

The lock cylinder 31, as stated, has a detent 36' to enter the annulargroove 40 and removably secure the cylinder in the bore of the lock bodyor casing, this detent being movable out of the groove 40 by a toolinserted through the hole 36.

The lock cylinder also has the customary tumblers 44 which enter thetumbler receiving grooves 2! to secure the cylinder against rotationexcept when a proper key (not shown) is inserted which retracts thetumblers and frees the cylinder for rotation. With the cylinder in itslocked position of rotation, as shown in Figure 1, a projection 45extending from its inner end is interposed between the top of theforward projection 43 on the latch bolt and the adjacent wall of thecasing bore so as to prevent motion of the latch bolt necessary topermit the same to pass the striker plate. It is to be observed thatthis manner of securing the latch bolt in its operative position imposesno endwise strain upon the lock cylinder and merely applies a negligiblecrushing force on the projection 45.

The latch mechanism is secured in position on the door by attaching acap 46 to the inner end of the casing. This cap, as best shown in Figure8, has a cylindrical portion 41 to telescope over the inner end of thecylinder casing or body and engage the outer curved surface of therecess 7 and has a flat end Wall 48 cut away as at 49 to accommodate thelatch bolt. The cylindrical portion 41 of the cap is also cut away toexpose the bolt.

Two holes 53 in the flat end wall of the cap are provided, one of whichreceives a dowel pin 5i projecting from the end of the casing, and theother providing for the insertion of a screw 52 by which the cap issecured to the body or casing, as clearly shown in Figure 2. Bytightening the screw 52, the cap 46 is drawn down tight against theouter wall of the recess 1 to clamp the door panel between the knob IIand the cap 45.

Where the non-locking latch structure, shown in Figure 10, is employed,both of the plugs 4i and 42 can be punched out at any time by merelyinserting a punch through the slot 49 in the cap 46 when the door isopen and striking a light blow.

The plug 4! is preferably formed as a crown-- like stamping havingspring fingers 4| which snap into the groove Hi], and the plug 52 whichis also a thin stamping, is held in place by having its peripheral edgeportion engage over the front of the casing under the finishing ring 18.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art towhich this invention appertains, that this invention provides a latchstructure particularly adaptable to present day glove compartment doorsof automobiles wherein the door knobs .are recessed below the surface ofthe door and the entire structure must be compacted within acomparatively small space.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a lock of the character described: a bored cylinder casing; alatch bolt pivotally mounted on the inner end of the casing; a cylinderrotatable in the casing bore; a part on the bolt movable toward the wallof the casing bore during movement of the bolt toward an inoperativeposition; and a part on the cylinder movable by rotation of the cylinderbetween the bolt carried part and the adjacent surface of the casingbore to prevent movement of the latch bolt out of its operativeposition.

2. In a latching device for hinged doors: a lock body projecting througha hole in the door; a flange on the outer end of the lock body; a knobfitted to the outer flanged end of the lock body and engaging the outersurface of the door; a cap telescoped over the inner end of the lockbody and secured thereto with part of the cap engaging the inner surfaceof the door to clamp the door between it and the knob; a latch boltpivotally mounted on the inner end of the lock body to swing on an axistransverse to the axis of the lock body to and from an operativeposition engageable with a fixed striker plate; a spring acting on thebolt to yieldingly urge the bolt to its operative position, said springbeing overcome by a pull on the knob to permit disengagement of the boltfrom its striker plate; a part on the bolt movable toward the adjacentsurface of the bore upon movement of the bolt out of operative position;and a lock cylinder rotatable in the bore and having a part positionableby rotation of the cylinder between said bolt carried part and theadjacent surface of the bore to prevent movement of the .bolt out ofoperative position.

3. In a lock of the character described: a casing having a longitudinalbore and a substantially transverse slot in its inner end; the sidewalls of said slot being formed with bearing sockets accessible throughpassageways opening to the end of the casing; a latch bolt havingtrunnions to engage the bearing sockets so as -to pivotally mount thelatch bolt from the inner end of the casing, said trunnions beingengageable with the bearing sockets through said passageways; and a lockcylinder rotatable in the casing bore with its inner end in position toblock movement of the bolt.

4. In a lock of the character described: a casing having a longitudinalbore and a substantially diametrical slot at its inner end opening tothe bore; a latch bolt having a part extending into the slot; a pivotalconnection between the latch bolt and the side walls of the slot, saidpivotal connection including bearing sockets opening toward the front ofthe casing so that disassembly of the latch bolt from the casingrequires forward motion of the latch bolt with respect to the casing;and a wall secured in the bore of the casing in position to engage apart of the latch bolt and prevent forward disassembling motion of thebolt.

5. In a lock of the character described: a casing having a longitudinalbore and a substantially diametrically extending open slot communicatingwith the bore; a latch bolt having a part received in the slot; apivotal connection between the latch bolt and the side walls of the slotincluding bearing sockets opening toward the front of the casing so thatdisassembly of the latch bolt from the casing requires a forward motionof the latch bolt; a forwardly projecting part on the latchbolt having asurface concentric to thepivotal axis of the latch bolt mounting; and apart secured in the bore of the casing and having a wall engageable bysaid concentric surface to prevent a forward disassembling motion of thelatch bolt.

6. In a lock of the character described: a casing having a longitudinalbore and a substantially diametrically extending open slot communicatingwith the bore; a latch bolt having a part received in the slot; apivotal connection between the latch bolt and the side Walls of the slotincluding bearing sockets opening toward the front of the casing so thatdisassembly of the latch bolt from the casing requires a forward motionof the latch bolt; a forwardly projecting part on the latch bolt havinga surface concentric to the pivotal axis of the latch bolt mounting; anda lock cylinder rotatable in the bore with its inner end positioned tobe engaged by said concentric surface so that the cylinder preventsforward disassembling motion of the latch bolt.

'7. A door latching device of the character described comp-rising: acasing having a bore; a hook-like latch bolt pivoted in the inner end ofthe casing; a projection on the latch bolt positioned to move toward thewall of the casing bore during an unlatching motion of the bolt; and amember rotatable in the casing bore and having a part movable betweensaid projection on the bolt and the adjacent wall of the bore to preventunlatching movement of the bolt.

8. In a latch device of the character described: a bored member having aslot in one end communicating with its bore; a hook-like latch bolthaving a portion thereof received in the slot with its hooked portionexposed; means for pivotally mounting the latch bolt from the sides ofthe slot; a spring acting upon the latch bolt to yieldingly urge thesame in one direction about its pivotal mounting; means for limitingspring propelled motion of the latch bolt to define a latching positionfor the bolt; a projection on the bolt positioned to swing toward thewall of the bore upon unlatching movement of the bolt; and a lockingmember rotatable in the bore and having a part positionable between saidbolt projection and the adjacent wall of the bore to prevent.

trunnions from the bore portion of the latch body toward the slot; aspring acting on the bolt to yieldingly urge the same about its pivotalmounting toward an operative latching position; means for limitingspring propeller movement of the boit to define its operative latchingposition; a projection on the bolt arranged to move toward the adjacentwall of the bore upon unlatching movement of the bolt; a memberrotatable in the bore and engageable with said bolt projection toprevent detachment of the trunnions from the bearing sockets; and a parton said rotatable member positionable between the bolt projection andthe adjacent wall of the bore to secure the bolt in its operativelatching position.

10. In a latch device of the character described: a body having a boreand an open slot communicating with one end of the bore; a hook-likelatch bolt having a portion disposed in the slot; a pivotal connectionbetween the bolt and the side walls of the slot; an outwardly anddownwardly inclined spring seat closing the bottom of the slot; a coilspring having one end resting on the spring seat and its other endengaging the latch bolt for yieldingly urging the bolt about its pivotalconnection to an operative position, the inclination of said spring seatbeing such that the force applied to the bolt by the spring has anoutward component tending to move the bolt endwise away from the body.

11. In a latch device of the character described: a body having an openslot with substantially parallel side walls; a latch bolt having aportion received between the side walls of the slot and having a hookportion extending outside of the slot; trunnions on the latch boltextending from opposite sides thereof; bearing sockets in the side wallsof the slot having passageways leading thereto to permit assembly of thetrunnions with the bearing sockets; disengagement of the trunnions withthe bearing sockets requiring endwise motion of the bolt and body towardeach other; and a coil spring acting on the bolt to yieldingly urge thebolt to an operative position and applying its force at such an angle asto produce a component urging the trunnions towards the bottoms of thebearing sockets so as to hold the trunnions therein.

12. Means for holding the door of a glove compartment in an auto-mobileclosed and for opening the same comprising: an indentation in thecompartment door near its free end portion, said indentation providing arecess and having a hole in the bottom thereof; a cylindrical memberpassing through said hole; a knob fitted to the outer end of thecylindrical member, the inner end of the knob engaging the bottom of therecess at the marginal edge portion of the hole therethrough; a pivotedlatch bolt carried by the inner end of the cylindrical member, saidlatch bolt having a hook portion engageable with a striker plate to holdthe compartment door closed; a spring acting on the latch bolt toyieldingly urge the bolt to an operative position engageable with thestriker plate, the spring being overcome by a pull on the knob to permitdisengagement of the bolt from the striker plate; and a cap telescopedover the inner end of said cylindrical member and secured thereto toclamp the bottom of the recess in the door between said cap and theknob, said cap having a portion thereof cut away to accommodate thelatch bolt.

13. In a lock of the character described: a casing having a longitudinalbore and a transverse slot in its inner end opening to the bore; theside Walls of the slot having bearing sockets spaced from the inner endof the casing and passageways leading forwardly toward the front of thelook from the inner end of the casing to the bearing sockets; a latchbolt having trunnions engageable in said bearing sockets to pivotallymount the bolt, said trunnions being engageable in the bearing socketsby movement along said passageways and disengagement of the trunnionsfrom the sockets requiring a forward movement of the trunnions towardthe front of the lock; and a plug secured in the bore of the casing withone wall thereof in position to at all times block forward movement ofthe bolt while permitting pivotal movement of the bolt about the axis ofsaid trunnions.

14. A latch device of the character described comprising: a body havinga longitudinal bore bearing sockets; disengagement of the trunnions fromthe bearing sockets requiring movement of the bolt toward said passages;a spring acting on the bolt to yieldingly urge the same to an operativeposition, said spring engaging the bolt outwardly of its trunnions andapplying its force at an inclination for producing a component urgingthe trunnions toward the bottoms of the bearing sockets; a member in thebore of the body having a wall engageable by part of the bolt to blockmovement of the bolt necessary to disengage its trunnions from thebearing sockets; and means carried by said member and engageable in saidannular groove for securing said member in the bore of the body.

15. A latch of the character described comprising: a body having alongitudinal bore with an open slot in its rear end communicating withthe bore and having an annular groove in the wall of the bore, the sidewalls of the slot having bayonet slots to provide bearing sockets withentrance passages leading forwardly thereto from the rear end of thebody; a latch bolt having trunnions projecting from opposite sidesthereof for engagement in said bearing sockets; disengagement of thetrunnions from the bearing:

sockets requiring movement of the bolt toward the front end of the body;a spring acting on the bolt to yieldingly urge the same to an operativeposition, said spring engaging the bolt outwardly of its trunnions andapplying its force at an inclination for producing a component urgingthe trunnions toward the bottoms of the bearing sockets; a member in thebore of the body having a wall engageable by part of the bolt to blockforward movement of the bolt necessary to disengage its trunnions fromthe bearing sockets; and means carried by said member and engageable insaid annular groove for removably securing said member in the bore ofthe body so as to enable replacement thereof with another member whichis insertable into the bore of the body.

EDWARD N. JACOBI.

